About

The Russian Studies (Hons) degree at the University of Nottingham aims to take you to a high level in Russian, enabling you to use the language in your career if you choose to. From year one our classes target your linguistic development over the full range of skills, increasingly targeting applied and employment-related situations as you progress.

Year one 

The first-year core language course develops the four skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. Our core module Nation, Myth, Identity introduces the study of Russia and Eastern Europe through topics in culture, history, language and society and also gives a grounding in essential study skills. You will also choose from other introductory level modules on Russian history or literature, or a module introducing the study of South-East Europe.

Year two

The second year advances your study in Russian in preparation for the year abroad and offers further broad coverage of the literature, history and culture of Russia and Eastern Europe. You can begin or continue Serbian/Croatian.

Year three  

The third academic year is spent abroad in Russia. You can either:

• study at one of our partner universities or

• study at a language school.

If you are taking Serbian/Croatian, you will be able to divide your time to cover the countries of both languages.

Options available to you may depend on the details of the Brexit settlement negotiated by the UK government. For more information, see our Year Abroad page and the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies  statement on Brexit and our year abroad provision. 

Year four

In the final year, you will apply your Russian language skills in high-level modules, including those dealing with employment related topics. You will also extend the skills and knowledge acquired earlier in the course in specialised modules on topics in which you have become particularly interested.

 We offer a wide range of options, taught by experts in areas from the Byzantine period to the present day and ranging across literature, history and cultural studies. You can take a specialist module in Russian interpreting, and you also have the option of beginning a new language via a fast-track module in Serbian/Croatian.

Careers

You will graduate with in-depth knowledge and understanding of a nation that plays a vital role on the global stage and with high-level linguistic, analytical and presentation skills which will equip you for a range of careers.

Your time in Russia will demonstrate to potential employers your flexibility and ability to adapt to new environments and challenges.